Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, says Nigeria needs leaders who demonstrate integrity through action if the nation is to overcome its deepening security crisis.
Obi made the remark while engaging Nigerians during an interactive X Space session on Sunday.
The former Anambra governor lamented that insecurity has worsened nationwide and insisted that only leaders who embody discipline, accountability and responsibility can drive meaningful change.
While responding to questions on how he would address the security challenges, Obi shared a personal incident to explain his approach to leadership.
He recounted travelling on a British Airways flight during his time as a sitting governor and encountering a filthy aircraft toilet.
According to him, a woman working with the Lagos State Government under Babatunde Fashola opened the toilet, saw its condition and immediately left.
Obi said he quietly entered the same toilet and cleaned it himself without alerting anyone.
“There’s somebody who works for the Lagos State Government, for Fashola’s government. She might be listening to what I’m saying now, or she can use it as an example. She works with a law firm,” Obi said.
“We were coming back on British Airways years back. I’m a serving governor. The entire toilet was messed up. She opened that toilet to use it. It was messed up. She walked away.
“I went in there, and she came back. The entire place was cleaned. She didn’t even tell me, but she told a minister and somebody else where she works in the office. She said, ‘I can’t believe this.’ The people called me. I said I cleaned it because maybe I would be the next person that would go back there to use it.
“When you see things that are wrong, clean them. I don’t have house help in my house; everybody knows that. Let us stop all this fake life.”
Obi maintained that with experience, preparedness and the right values, he is better positioned to confront Nigeria’s security and economic challenges if given the opportunity.